He turned to grab a gauze pad to put over the wound and caught sight of a woman standing in the doorway of the ER. She had brown hair in a bun, jeans, and a white blouse, and she wore a purple apron over everything, with flour down the front. The apron barely hid the shape of a very clearly pregnant belly. As always, Luke blinked, wondering if she could be Bella.
But this couldn’t be Bella. Definitely not. It was just Luke’s mind playing tricks on him again. After all, Bella wasn’t pregnant. He turned back to Jennifer and gently placed the gauze pad on her forehead laceration.
“There you go.”
“Thanks, dear.”
Luke smiled at her, but something in his mind was tugging at him to turn around. Maybe the woman he’d seen really was Bella, somehow. She had really looked like her, though he’d only caught a glimpse, and only from a distance. Still, his heart began to race as he turned again. The woman was still standing there, now talking to one of the ER nurses, and Luke’s heart skipped a beat. ItwasBella, pregnant, in his ER.
Bella.
Here.
Pregnant.
For a long moment, he didn’t know what to do. Luke’s whole career had prepared him to deal with the unexpected and act quickly and correctly, yet he was still completely unprepared for this.
CHAPTER 10
BELLA
The first pain came while Bella was plating tiny dumplings onto a platter with curls of carrot and green onion. It was a gentle pain, not too different from the fluttering kicks she’d started to feel now and then, but she still paused. After a moment, the pain passed, and Bella finished her plating and moved on to a salad she’d been working on.
The next pain came as she was finishing the dressing, and this time, it bent her over like a jackknife with its intensity.
“Not now, baby,” she muttered softly. All the pregnancy books she’d read had told her thatsomepain was normal, but this didn’t feel like a little pain. It squeezed tight around her abdomen like a steel band slowly tightening.
“Not now,” she repeated, a hint of pleading in her tone.
“What was that?” one of her servers, Callie, asked. The young woman was standing in the doorway, waiting for the salad to be ready so that she could take it out to the diners.
“Nothing.” Bella managed a smile. “Just a twinge.”
“Maybe you should take it easy,” Callie said.
Bella let out a slow breath. “I appreciate that, but this weddingcan’tgo wrong. You know that. Tabi Sloan is an influencer with more than twenty thousand followers, and the groom is a Trailblazer.Andthe family-style meal they’ve requested has twenty different dishes, of which I’ve only finished twelve.”
“Yeah, but, like, you’re pretty pregnant,” Callie said. Bella swallowed her annoyance. The young woman was just trying to help.
“I realize that. Please take the salad out.”
Callie took the bowl and left, and Bella turned back to her work. She still had a long way to go — she was only halfway through the dinner, which was followed by a selection of three desserts. Tabi had told Bella she wanted a relaxed, homey dinner, but her requirements were high. She’d had more than three tastings with plenty of feedback each time, and she wanted huge variety between dishes.
Worse, Bella was cooking in the venue’s kitchen — the kitchen of a barn. It was equipped well-enough, but drafty, and while Bella had prepared many of the dishes in advance, there were a few things that needed to be hot. Already, she was balancing twenty things at once, and she couldn’t afford to rest for even a second. She definitely couldn’t afford to be having mysterious pains.
Bella pulled the rolls out of the oven and brushed them with the final layer of herby garlic butter. The aroma was mouthwatering, and Bella remembered she hadn’t eaten much that day. Or — wait… she hadn’t eaten at all yet. She’d been too busy working and too anxious about this wedding. She needed to eat as soon as this was over. And then sleep for about a year.
She quickly plated the garlic rolls and was reaching for the crab puffs when another pain tore through her abdomen. She doubled over, letting out a soft moan, as one hand gripped the countertop with white knuckles.
“Okay, that’s it.” Suddenly, Bella felt Callie’s hand on her shoulder. “Something’s wrong, and you’re going to the hospital.”
“I will,” Bella agreed. Something certainly felt wrong. “But I have to finish the food first. I have to. This wedding can’t fall apart! My business would never survive a scathing review from Tabi Sloan." She could already imagine what the influencer would say — she’d been plenty rude in the past, even though her online persona was sweet and friendly.
"Listen to me." Callie grabbed Bella’s shoulders and met her eyes. “I get that you’re worried about your business, but you need to be worried about yourself and your baby right now.”
Bella froze. Callie was right. She had to take care of her baby, even if it meant Tabi Sloan blacklisted her.
“Okay. Okay.” Bella nodded. “You’re right.”
